


undercover

by planetjauregui



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff, High School, Prom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 09:55:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12318672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planetjauregui/pseuds/planetjauregui
Summary: the three times dinah tried to ask camila to prom, and the one time she did.





	1. prologue

"Oh my God!" Normani squealed, an ocean of roses tumbling out of her locker. She bent down to pick up the white note that lay among them, that had seven words written on it.

Dinah smirked, pulling on the strap of her backpack, "I wonder who those are from."

"It's Arin's Promposal! God, he's so romantic," Normani gushed, holding the note to her chest.

Ally picked up some of the roses that had strayed into the middle of the hallway, "Well, that's one of us down. Then again, I don't think anyone is going to outdo Arin."

Normani ignored Ally, picking up the roses one by one, placing them lightly into her locker. Dinah loved her best friend, but she had to admit, she was a bit of a hopeless romantic.

"Do you think Troy is going to ask you?" Dinah questioned, watching Ally gather the roses.

The shorter girl shrugged, handing the leftover roses to Normani, "I hope so, but he's a little hard to read."

"It'll happen, Alz, don't worry about it," Dinah reassured her friend.

"What about you, DJ? You've barely said anything about prom," Normani commented, still gazing at the roses lovingly.

Dinah sighed. This was the million dollar question: who was Dinah Jane taking to prom? While the girl often went on dates with several people, no one really captured her interest. Dinah had thought she was just too picky, until she met someone intriguing in her chemistry class.

Her name was Camila Cabello, lonely, shy girl extraordinaire. She wore glasses, her nose was always stuck in a book, and she never spoke unless she was spoken to. Dinah had never noticed her until they were partnered together in class, and for some reason, Dinah persisted to try and get the girl to open up. Camila had reciprocated, often stumbling over her words and blushing, but still, it was something.

Dinah couldn't get it out of her head that maybe she wanted to ask the girl to prom, even though she had no indication that she was anything but heterosexual. But Dinah was fearless, and she wasn't afraid of getting shot down.

Or maybe she was, and that was why she hadn't made her move yet.

"I don't know, I have someone in mind but it probably wouldn't work out," Dinah said nonchalantly, knowing her friends would pounce on the information anyway.

Normani finally came out of la la land, "What? Who is she? Do we know her?"

"Probably not," Dinah replied, biting her lip, "She's keeps to herself, so I really don't know if she would even say yes."

Ally asked, "How did you meet her?"

"She's my lab partner," Dinah said, "But it would be really awkward for the rest of the semester if she said no."

"Okay, but what if she says yes?" Normani said, tapping Dinah on the nose with one of the flowers, "We'll think of something you can do for her."

Ally nodded as the bell rang, "We'll talk at lunch. Try and think of something when you have class with her today. We'll cook something up."

Dinah said goodbye to her best friends, and as she walked away, she silently hoped she hadn't set herself up for disaster.

\---

Dinah set her tray down at her designated seat at the lunch table. Normani, Ally, and Lauren already had their heads together, talking so quietly that Dinah could barely hear them.

"Hello? I'm here, if you haven't noticed," Dinah said sarcastically, getting the girls' attention.

Lauren looked over at Dinah, "Hey, Dinah. We're just talking about you."

"Wonderful," Dinah deadpanned.

Dinah sat down, picking at the dry chicken patty on her tray. As she was mentally debating whether she should eat it or not, she realized what her mischievous friends were doing.

"Is that the yearbook?" Dinah questioned, her voice becoming shrill.

Normani giggled, "We're looking for your girlfriend."

"You don't even know her name! How could you possibly find her?" Dinah asked, exhaling heavily out of her nose.

"We're looking for anyone who looks shy and lonely," Ally said.

Dinah rolled her eyes, "Everyone looks like that, it's the freaking yearbook!"

"Not you. You looked extra as hell in your yearbook picture last year," Lauren commented, and Dinah had to admit, the girl had a point.

"Okay, let's get to actual business. Dinah, I've been thinking, you should ask her using some sort of chemistry, since you have that class together," Normani suggested.

Ally piped up, "Or you could make a giant poster! You can never go wrong with that."

"Yeah, nothing says subtle like using a gigantic poster to ask a shy girl to prom," Lauren responded, "I think you should do it somewhere quiet. Maybe find where she hangs out during school, and do it there."

Dinah bit the inside of her cheek, "Those all sound pretty good. Maybe not the poster thing, but it wouldn't hurt to try I guess."

Ally turned to Lauren, giving her a victorious smile. Lauren rolled her eyes, flicking a piece of corn in the shorter girl's direction. Normani dodged it, even though the kernel was nowhere near her. Dinah shook her head, smiling, because she wouldn't trade her crazy friends for the world.


	2. attempt one

"Well, it's really...something," Dinah said, faking sincerity.

Normani and Ally held opposite ends of the banner, showing off the work they had done. The phrase 'will you go to prom with me?' was written out with pink marker, lopsided red hearts surrounding the words.

Ally peered down at it, "It's not perfect, but it's cute in a second grade love kind of way."

Dinah sighed, "I guess I can try with this. I'll tell her this is the prelude to a bigger proposal."

"That's the spirit! Now let's load this thing into the car," Normani said enthusiastically, rolling up her end of the banner.

Dinah called shotgun, sliding into the passenger's side of Normani's BMW. Ally took the larger than life banner with her in the backseat, carefully holding it on her lap, and Normani got in the front. The girls chattered wildly about whether Troy would finally ask Ally to prom today, and Normani continued to gush about Arin.

In fact, she was so distracted by the prom talk that she didn't notice the crowd of students crossing the street.

"Mani, look out!" Dinah yelled, pointing at the sea of high schoolers.

Normani turned to look at the road as she slammed her foot on the breaks, sending little Ally flying into the back of Dinah's seat, ultimately crushing the poster.

A girl with long, brown hair whipped her head around as she crossed the street, her eyes wide behind her glasses. Dinah's heart was already in her throat, but it felt like it was about to jump out of her mouth at this point. The girl gave Dinah a weak smile, then continued walking, her cheeks reddening.

"Who was that?" Normani questioned, looking at her dazed best friend.

Ally huffed from the backseat, "The last thing you need to be doing is taking your eyes off of the road! Not only did you almost kill us, the poster is smashed!"

Dinah reached back, patting her friend on the knee, "Don't be so dramatic, Ally, we're fine."

"Normani was too busy daydreaming about Arin and she nearly flattened a small army of kids!" Ally shrieked, obviously stilled frightened by the incident.

"Shut up, Ally," Normani replied, rolling her eyes, "Now Dinah, was that her?"

Dinah stammered, "Maybe. I didn't really get a good look at her."

Raising her eyebrows, Normani said, "Dinah, you were practically drooling all over yourself. Plus, that girl was super nervous to see you. I'm thinking she might like you too."

"You saw her for three seconds, how could you know all that?" Dinah questioned, "She's like that with everyone, she's a shy person."

Normani put a hand on her best friend's forearm, saying, "I know love when I see it."

Then the girl hit the gas and took off.

\---

Rain started pouring down in record time. The drive from where the bus lets off to the student parking lot is no less than three minutes, but nonetheless, rain barreled from the sky. Normani had cranked her wipers up so fast Dinah thought they would pop off any second, but they stayed put.

The girls arrived to school with ten minutes to spare, Normani whipping into a spot so fast Dinah's side ached. They all watched the rain fall on the windshield, the wipers barely being able to keep up now.

Ally was the first to speak up, "Not only did we almost get killed, by now it's a monsoon outside. Just wonderful."

"I didn't bring an umbrella so," Normani admitted, "I don't know how we're going to get the poster in."

"Let's wait until the rain slows a little," Dinah tried, but the rain didn't look like it would let up anytime soon.

Normani shifted around in her seat, giving Ally a thoughtful stare, "Hey Ally?"

"Oh no," Ally responded, "What?"

Normani explained her idea, and after some arguing, Ally reluctantly agreed.

Two minutes later, Normani was stuffing the poster up Ally's dress. Dinah watched in horror from the safety of the car, feeling like she was watching some kind of weird, reverse birth ritual. Of course, Ally is shorter than the average human, and only about half of the rolled up poster could fit up her dress, so whatever stuck out would just have to bare the weather.

"Come on, Dinah!" Normani yelled, "It's time to run!"

Dinah exited the car, chasing after the girls through the coldness of the rain. Running through water probably wasn't the best idea, considering Ally tripped over her own feet, and landed stomach first into the ground.

Normani went back to help Ally, shouting theatrically at Dinah, "Save yourself!"

She ran full speed toward the school, pulling the door open with force as she let herself in. Dinah waited, out of breath, for her friends to come in and show her how much damage was done.

A minute later, Normani shoved the door open, letting Ally go in first. The poster was cradled in Normani's arm, completely destroyed and stained with ink.

"If we let it dry in the dance hall, we might be able to salvage it by time your chemistry class comes around," Normani said hopefully.

"Maybe I should just try something different tomorrow," Dinah suggested, "I really appreciate all the hard work you guys put into this, but it's not worth it."

Normani frowned, but she understood, "Bring it just in case, okay? It might get better after drying for a few hours."

"We'll see," Dinah remarked, upset that her first plan had fallen through.

\---

The four girls went to check on the poster after lunch. When Lauren finally saw the infamous poster, she visibly cringed. The banner looked worse than Dinah had imagined: the words had melted into each other, the red hearts had dripped down the paper, and there was a punctured hole right in the middle of it.

"It looks like it's gone to hell and back," Lauren commented, "There's no way Dinah could show this to the girl. She'll think Dinah's crazy."

"Thank you, Lauren," Dinah replied, glad that one of her friend's was on her side.

Normani shrugged, "She might appreciate the lady balls you have to ask her without anything extravagant."

"Please don't ever say 'lady balls' again," Ally said with disgust.

Staring Ally down, Normani said, "Lady balls. Big, old, wrinkly lady balls."

"I'll see you guys after school," Lauren said, fast walking away from the current conversation.

"Yeah, catch you guys later. I'm not sticking around to hear this," Dinah said, leaving the destroyed banner and her two best friends behind.


	3. attempt two

Dinah entered Normani's garage on Wednesday night, not having a clue what the girl had been so excited about on the phone. Normani had called Dinah late that evening, raving about this wonderful idea that she'd come up with. Dinah agreed to come over, though a bit reluctant.

In the garage, Normani sat in front of the television, flipping through the channels. When she heard Dinah let herself in, she stood up quickly, turning the TV off.

"We've got business to attend to," Normani said, heading to her dad's work station.

Dinah followed her, eyeing the contents that sat on the wooden surface. A glass, some vinegar, and a carton of baking soda sat menacingly. Four, plastic refrigerator magnets were on the table as well, and Dinah got a pretty good idea of what Normani was planning.

Normani smiled, then said, "This is going to be one explosive promposal."

"How long have you been holding onto that pun?" Dinah asked, crossing her arms.

"Girl, I've been waiting to say that all afternoon," Normani joked, placing the four magnets into the glass, "I want to test this out and see if it works first."

Normani poured an alarming amount of baking soda into the glass, letting it bury the magnets.

"Are you ready to see some magic?" Normani asked enthusiastically.

"Hell yeah," Dinah responded, watching Normani slowly pour the vinegar into the glass.

The next fifteen seconds felt like an eternity. Normani's arm twitched while she was pouring the vinegar, and she accidentally poured half the bottle into the glass. The concoction had sprang up out of the glass in a fury of bubbles, both of the girls screaming as they were splashed with the liquid. Moments later, Normani's dad swung the garage door open, asking the two teenagers if they were alright.

As she checked her hair, Normani replied, "We're alright, daddy. Sorry to scare you."

"What were you girls thinking? What is all over the floor?" Mr. Hamilton asked, coming down the garage steps.

Dinah stepped in, "We were just practicing something for chemistry and it went horribly wrong. I'm really sorry we made a mess, Mr. Hamilton, I'll help clean it up."

"It's alright, girls. Just clean it up and be more careful next time," Mr. Hamilton retreated, "Dinah, how about you stay for dinner tonight?"

"I will, thank you!" Dinah grinned. She was practically part of Normani's family at this point.

When Mr. Hamilton went back into the house, Normani gave Dinah a look of regret. Dinah hated knowing that her friend's plan didn't work out, especially when she knew how excited the girl had been.

Sighing, Normani said, "I guess I'll go get washed up and we can think of something else. You can use the guest bathroom if you want, and I'll borrow you some clothes."

"Thanks, Mani," Dinah responded, "For what it's worth, the idea was super cute. Too bad I'd probably get tackled by school security if I made something explode in the chemistry lab."

Normani gave Dinah a weak smile, resting her head on her best friend's shoulder, "We'll think of something else, DJ, I promise."

Dinah hoped that she was right.


End file.
